SCORE: The Bold and the Beautiful Casts Thorsten Kaye as Ridge Forrester!

Brad Bell has pulled quite the power casting move by hiring All My Children favorite Thorsten Kaye as the one and only Ridge Forrester, according to TV Guide Magazine.

TV Guide Magazine: This is wild! How did the deal fall into place?

Kaye: When this came up with B&B I was very excited and didn't even care what the part was. I didn't know what kind of character Mr. Bell wanted me to do but he sounded so confident that he and I could work well together and do something interesting that I just bought into it. He's a great salesman! Then not more than 20 minutes before I got on the phone with you, I found out that I'm the new Ridge, who was a cornerstone of the show. [Laughs] So that's a whole other can of worms, isn't it? They needed someone to step up and I guess I'm the guy. I met Ronn a couple of times and he's a stunning man. And I got a face for radio! So I guess the viewers are in for a hell of a surprise! Maybe during his time away Ridge turned into an ugly European guy. [Laughs] You can't even say that he went and had plastic surgery — unless he went to Serbia for the procedure and now he wants his money back!

What does this huge casting news mean for Kaye's Zach Slater on All My Children? Reportedly, Prospect Park no longer has him on contract.

TV Guide Magazine: So I guess we can assume that you are no longer legally bound to Prospect Park?

Kaye: I don't have a contract there anymore. It's sad, you know? And I hope it all works out for them. But when you have a solid opportunity on a show that's so highly regarded, you just gotta take it. [Laughs] This may come as a surprise to you, but I wasn't sitting around with 10 other offers on the table.